The kingdom of God \u2018comes.\u2019 It cannot be built, ushered in or extended by us \u2013 despite the way that many people talk of the mission and responsibility of the church these days \u2013 and despite the many prayers offered on Sunday mornings after the collection: \u2018Lord these monies are for the extension of your kingdom\u2019. Karl Barth maintained that any minister who thinks of his or her task as \u2018building the kingdom of God\u2019 should resign immediately!<\/p>\n
Despite popular practice, one should not abstract the word \u2018kingdom\u2019 from the phrase \u2018kingdom of God\u2019 and use it as an adjective to identify a particular perspective or practice, as in \u2018Kingdom Ethics\u2019 or \u2018Kingdom Living,\u2019 for example.<\/p>\n
What do you think about this \u201cGod\u201d orientation of \u00a0\u201ckingdom\u201d and the way we use \u201ckingdom\u201d language?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHave you noticed the subjective genitives and the personal possessive pronouns in the biblical phrases \u2018kingdom of God\u2019, \u2018Christ\u2019s kingdom\u2019, \u2018his kingdom\u2019, \u2018my kingdom\u2019 and \u2018your kingdom\u2019? This is because the kingdom of God is the kingdom of God. It has reference to God himself and not to anything else. It is about him and his action.<\/p>\n
Drawing on his study of Jewish literature, the New Testament scholar Bruce Chilton tells us that the phrase is a reference to \u2018the dynamic personal presence of God\u2019. The kingdom of God, he says, is \u2018God as he manifests himself for his people.\u2019 It is \u2018God in strength,\u2019 \u2018the sovereign activity of God,\u2019 \u2018the saving revelation of God himself.\u2019<\/p>\n
Joel Marcus, another New Testament scholar, tells us that it means \u2018God\u2019s Kingly power.\u2019 It is for this reason that we must affirm, along with the early church father Origen, that Jesus Christ is the auto basileia \u2013 the kingdom of God in person. Jesus Christ is God himself come among us in Kingly power, acting to save us from the powers that enslave us in order to free us to be truly ourselves as we are truly his.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
David McGregor is a professor at Tabor Adelaide. Story: David and his wife took Kris and me out to eat in Adelaide, David made a wonderful choice for dinner \u2026 and then was interrupted by an emergency need at the hospital for his ailing father, he had to leave\u2026 and now we await another time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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